How Air Conditioners Work

While air conditioners come in different forms, they all work on the same basic principle. Read on to learn more about how they cool homes and businesses.

Indoor air blows across a cold evaporator coil, cooling the air and causing the refrigerant to change from liquid to gas. The refrigerant is then pulled outdoors through a coil where it rejects heat from outdoor air.

What is an Air Conditioner?

An air conditioning system is a device that cools the air in your home or office by using chemical processes. The main components of an air conditioner are the compressor, condenser and evaporator. The compressor compresses the refrigerant by converting it from gas to liquid and back again. The heat from the compressed liquid is then transferred to the evaporator where it is used to cool the air. The cooled air is then circulated through the house or office by fans.

Another type of air conditioning is a wall-mounted unit. These are usually plugged into the wall at a height convenient to the user & can be installed either in a horizontal or vertical position (depending on model). Older units may have rotary mechanical controls whereas newer models typically have electronic control panel with display screen.

A window air conditioner is the simplest form of room AC. It is a single unit with all the components enclosed in one casing with an insulated partition between the evaporator and condenser sides. It is mounted on a window frame or by making a hole in the wall and blows cool air in the room through its front side while the warm air is blown out through its screened vent on the outdoor side. This type of AC is generally recommended for small rooms and is a good alternative for those who cannot afford to install central air conditioning.

How do Air Conditioners Work?

Air conditioners come in a range of shapes and sizes, but they all essentially do the same thing. They provide cool, comfortable air by removing heat and humidity from indoor living spaces, then pumping that unwanted moisture outdoors where it can be dissipated.

A standard cooling system uses a special chemical known as refrigerant to achieve its goals, and it has Air conditioner three main mechanical components: the compressor, condenser coil and evaporator coil. The refrigerant is a liquid at its idle state, but when the compressor in your air conditioning unit operates, it compresses and squeezes the molecules together, increasing its pressure and temperature and changing its state from a liquid to a gas.

As the compressed refrigerant travels through your air conditioner’s evaporator coil, it absorbs the heat in the warm air passing over the coil, turning it from a gas back into a liquid. The cooled, dehumidified air is then pumped outdoors, where the condenser coils dissipate the heat into the atmosphere.

A fan in your home or business blows the cold, filtered air throughout the space to keep it cool and comfortable. In addition to cooling, air conditioning systems can also act as a dehumidifier by pulling moisture from the air, and they can help reduce indoor pollutants, such as dust and dirt, which can make you sick.

What are the Benefits of Air Conditioners?

In addition to making your home and office more comfortable, air conditioners have a variety of health benefits. They help fight the effects of heat on your body, and make it easier to sleep well. They also help reduce the risks of asthma attacks, allergies and mold. They work by circulating the air, filtering it, and keeping it at a healthy level of humidity.

Heat-related diseases and deaths are a real concern in many places across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that over 9,000 Americans die each year due to heat-related illnesses, and there are far more who have heat as a contributing factor but not the main cause of death or illness. Having an air conditioning system can prevent these health problems and save lives.

The benefits of having air conditioning are not just limited to physical health, but can also have an impact on your mental wellbeing and social life. When you’re not dripping with sweat and feeling cranky from the intense heat, you can have better interactions with friends and family, and enjoy more time in social environments like restaurants, cinemas, and shops. Air conditioning can also boost employee productivity in offices by creating a climate-controlled workspace that keeps them alert and happy, and helps them focus on their tasks without distractions or fatigue.

How do Air Conditioners Cool?

The air conditioning system uses a thermodynamic cycle to cool. Like your refrigerator, it pulls warm air from the relatively cool inside of the house and transfers it to the hot outside environment through a series of changes in temperature, pressure and state (liquid to gas) that happen in a coil called an evaporator.

An evaporator coil has serpentine tubing surrounded by aluminum fins and is located in the air handler inside your home. The ducts distribute this cooled air to each room in the house. Cool air then blows across the evaporator, absorbing heat and cooling the refrigerant that runs through it. This chilled liquid is then pumped to the condenser, another coil that sits outside. Here the condenser expels the heat into the outside air, cooling the refrigerant and transferring the absorbed heat. The refrigerant returns to the evaporator, the process starts over and the cool air is distributed throughout the home again.

Window air conditioners cool a single room or space and are generally less expensive to buy Air conditioner and operate than central air. Most models have a timer that lets you set when the unit operates and offer remote controls for convenience.

Ductless mini-split systems are more sophisticated than window units and use a similar cooling technology to provide temperature control for rooms that do not have ductwork. These systems can also be used for heating.